Agents welcome commercial property revival

Nov 17 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

IMPROVED confidence in commercial property funds combined with reports at the weekend that values have rallied after a 45% slide, have been welcomed by agents on Teesside. But they said there was little evidence of a substantial local move in prices.

“The rungs on the ladder are possibly closer than they have ever been,” said Sanderson Weatherall director David Jackson, who added that it was a good time for investors to trade up.

“We hope it’s not a false dawn before Christmas but generally there is a lot more optimism and confidence and people are realising now’s the time to get a good property deal. If they got through the last 12 months and the business is still there, they are looking to see where they can take advantage of the market.”

He said the industrial and warehousing sectors were proving most resilient, driven by local demand.

“The market that is probably the strongest is the investment market where a lot of the funds have a bit of money to spend before the end of the financial year.”

Stephen Forbes, partner at Middlesbrough chartered surveyors and property consultants Dodds Brown, said while he hadn’t seen “obvious sustained growth” in the sector, confidence was returning. “The number of enquiries is up on two or three months ago. We are getting busier, which gives some cause for optimism.”

Mr Forbes said the office sector - an area which has seen the least activity during 2009 - was showing signs of picking up.

“We are getting enquiries for 10,000-20,000sq ft spaces - which are translating through to lettings. It’s early days but we let four offices last month and we’re in discussions with several different companies.”

Echoing Mr Jackson, he said increased activity had not impacted on prices. “There’s been no upward pressure on prices so far and there’s very good deals out there at the moment.”